The Chair In A Single Sitting

Sounds Good!

One of the weakest aspects of Netflix – I think – is its comedies. A decent sitcom – or for that matter skit-show – seems hard to come by. And Netflix has fluked into having some (Schitt’s Creek) and just downright failed a lot of the time, usually with its original programming. Things like Schitt’s Creek work well in spite of the Netflix model. They gather a steady network TV following first. Then Netflix swoops in. Same was true of Cobra Kai, which was original content for YouTube. Then Netflix bought it and I can already feel the product weakening.

I want good comedies – not just for a laugh, but also for some content that is over within 20 minutes or half an hour. I’m sick of deep, dark dramas all the time. I love them! But I do not love them every day. I’m totally done with Netflix’s true crime fiascos. Taking four or six or  eight episodes to tell us what they could in one movie-length doco, or sometimes a single episode-length.

And the pandemic has taken away Netflix’s lazy trump-card: Stand-up Comedy Specials. A new one was arriving every week for a while there. But that was pre-Covid.

I’ll go almost anywhere else first for a decent/ish comedy – Amazon Prime, Neon, YouTube, Apple TV or Disney. And yes, it’s ridiculous to have subscriptions to them all. But this is modern living.

Anyway, it was with a tiny bit of trepidation that I attempted The Chair. Despite a solid recommendation from a person I could possibly trust.

But within the opening moments I was sold.

So much so we binged the whole season in one go. Like a good little Neflix devotee is supposed to. It’s easy enough to do when it’s just six episodes.

But The Chair was funny. And thoughtful. And had some good angles going. I don’t want to spoil it – because this is a recommendation not a review. I’m just telling you about something that’s on, something you might want to see. But I loved it for many reasons. First up. Sandra Oh. She is pretty great and pretty much always. But coming off the back of Killing Eve she’s shown great skills now in both comedy and drama. And The Chair isn’t always laugh-out-loud. It has rom-com elements, it has dramedy, it has some sombre tones too – but it’s also got some probing of contemporary issues: Cancel culture, and many university-related issues: funding cuts, drops in enrolment – the idealism of academic purists vs. the exciting ways a class can now be taught.

Sandra Oh is brilliant – but she’s backed up by a killer cast of top supporting players. People like Holland Taylor, who is absolutely scene-stealing in this. People like Bob Balaban, a safe-safe pair of hands always. Then there’s Jay Duplass – his Bill Dobson is slightly related to the character he gave us in TransParent, but not so much that you think it’s just a trace-around. (He’s just so good at playing people that wear their damage low-slung like a favourite pair of house-pants). I’m also a big fan of David Morse, always have been. So it’s nice to see him here doing strong work again.

The show’s co-creator is Amanda Peet. Known mostly for her acting of course, but in recent years she’s turned to writing – first a play and now TV. If you’re keen on more of her perspective about this show here’s an excellent interview piece.

The Chair was such a nice surprise – cool soundtrack, some interesting selections, some flashbacks to bands I haven’t thought about in a while – and I was able to watch it without worrying about how accurate it was. It felt accurate, and that’s all that matters. I’ve never worked in a university; it’s been a while since I was there as a student – the world’s changed a lot since then. So I just enjoyed it. For what it was. Funny, honest, and seemingly very real. Maybe it has a deeper set of in-jokes if you know the territory. But I felt there was no real barrier to entry at least. Also, terrific cameo by David Duchovny – as himself. A wonderful send-up. Good sport.

So that’s my pick. And I’ve now – just as soon as making this recommendation – got to go find something else to watch…that’s how it is when you find something great.